


Perhaps Before Trost

by flamingstuffs



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3305720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingstuffs/pseuds/flamingstuffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the boulder operation has taken place, Eren and Armin become trapped and have to take desperate measures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

AOT FAN FIC - EDIT  
As the Titan approaches, Armin tries to keep calm. Its a 15-meter, a big one.   
"Armin, back up." Eren calls.  
As Armin flattens himself against the nearest building, Eren raises his hand to his mouth and bites down, hard. Armin closes his eyes. He will never get used to his best friend transforming into mankind's worst enemy. After the roars and the stomping sounds fade, Armin looks up. Titan Eren is standing erect, staring at the remains of the 15-meter. He turns his head toward Armin, and suddenly begins to stomp in Armin's direction.   
The cadet takes a step back, but his back hits the rough sun warmed rock of the building. There's no more room to go and he can't break either direction, with Titan Eren advancing on him. 

"Take a look at that." Jean hands the spyglass to Mikasa.  
"Is that... Eren?" She sounds worried.  
"Damn right, and look who Eren has in his hand."  
There's a pause as Mikasa focuses the spyglass in on Eren's hand, then, "Armin." Mikasa breathes.

"EREN!!" Screeches Armin as he is lifted into the air, clasped in Titan Eren's gigantic fist. Titan Eren stares at Armin, slowly bringing Armin closer and closer to Eren's face. Armin begins to struggle, trying to wriggle out of Eren's firm fist. Eren promptly tightens his grip, ripping a scream of pain from Armin's lips. Blood drips from Eren's huge hand.

"We have to go help Armin." Mikasa gasps, striding toward the edge of the wall.  
"Mikasa, wait!" Jean catches her arm, stopping her. "There's no point. There's probably five or six Titans between them and us, we'd be too late, and when you got there, what would you do? Kill Eren? Because that's the last thing I think you want to do."   
"I need to do SOMETHING. I'll figure it out when I get there." Mikasa launches off the wall without further debate. Jean hesitates for a moment.  
"Damn it all." He mumbles, as he follows Mikasa.

Silent tears stream down Armin's face. His legs burn, something hard and sharp cuts into his waist, hitting bone. Blood flows freely. He tries to think of what it could be. Eren has no CLAWS. *My gear...* His Maneuverability Gear, his blade sheaths, were now stabbing him, turning what is usually a blessing into an agonizing injury. He takes a deep breath, ignoring the pain, he pushes with his hands against the fist imprisoning him. Nothing happens.   
"Eren..." Armin's voice trembles, along with his entire body. Eren's massive jaws stretch wide, his hand dripping with Armin's blood. He lowers Armin's body between his teeth, preparing to bite down.

"ARMIN!!" Jean cries, panicked. Mikasa says nothing, but stands silently on a nearby rooftop. *There really is nothing I can do. Armin is going to die, and I can't do a thing.* Jean slumps to his knees.

Armin freezes, halfway inside Eren's mouth. *I never thought I'd end like this, devoured by my best friend.* The crushing teeth haven't dropped on him yet. Armin braces himself for the impact. *Why doesn't he just end it?*   
"DAMN IT EREN, JUST KILL ME ALREADY!" Armin startles himself with the shout. Eren's fingers release, dropping Armin on his long and pointed tongue. Armin scrambles toward the back of the throat, away from the teeth that can grind him to jelly in moments. Eren's mouth closes, slowly blocking Armin's view of the world. Suddenly Mikasa appears right in front of Eren's mouth, grappled to his nose.   
"CUT HIM OU-" Armin's voice is snuffed out as Eren's teeth meet.

Jean sits stunned on a rooftop. Mikasa punches Titan Eren in the eye, blinding him. He flails about, barely missing Jean and landing with crushing impact on the buildings across the street. Dust and rubble fly and stones crumble down on top of the Titan's prone body.

Armin slides down Eren's throat, grappling for purchase on the slick mucus that lines a Titan's insides. The pain in his hips is not helping. He gives up trying to climb out and falls straight into Eren's stomach. Its empty, hot, red, and slimy. *All I have to do is wait for Mikasa to cut Eren out, then she'll come find me.* It is wishful thinking, he knows. Eren is putting up a fight, judging by the way Armin is thrown about. Armin lays down, weak from blood loss, tired, and terrified. He blacks out almost immediately.

"EREN- DAMN- YOU- YOU- JUST- ATE - ARMIN-" Jean bellows, with every word jabbing his swords into Titan Eren's eyes. Mikasa is trying her best to cut Eren out without hurting him, anchoring herself to his back and cutting around him. Its not easy with him thrashing around.   
"Eren, I'm trying to help you!" Mikasa screams in frustration. It has no effect. She's three fourths of the way done when Jean yells in shock and pain. Eren has swatted him across the street, sending him crashing into a building. Sasha lands in front of Jean, protecting him from further attacks. Mikasa makes the final cut, and pulls Eren halfway out. His Titan body buckles and his limbs twitch uncontrollably.. The muscles are still attached to his arms and legs, but Mikasa knows from experience that it will do him no harm to cut these. She cleanly cuts them, where she knows she won't cut off a hand or a foot. She pulls Eren all the way out, and the Titan body stops thrashing and lays still.  
"Sasha, Armin is in the stomach, get him out!" She calls over her shoulder, supporting Eren's limp body and scurrying out of the way. Sasha hurries to the corpse, Jean close behind. Mikasa looks into Eren's face. He'll be fine, but she'd better take him somewhere safe before people heard about this. If people thought Eren is dangerous, they'd lock him up, and THIS was dangerous. Eating a human, in his Titan form, will confirm suspicions of his instability. She lays him gently close by, and rushes over to where the Titan body lays on its face. Sasha and Jean are standing there, arguing. She catches some of their conversation.  
"-Slice too deep, we might cut his head off!" Sasha gestures wildly.  
"He's in the stomach, he's laying on the opposite side from us, theres no WAY we could even touch him with our swords." Jean retorts. Mikasa cuts them off.  
"Jean is right. We've got to cut NOW or he may bleed out or asphyxiate."   
They cut a large circle, deep enough to cut right down through the stomach lining. They pull the flesh, lifting the soft mushy tissue away from the stomach.   
"We didn't cut quite deep enough, theres still a few inches of fat, and the stomach lining." Jean says as he hops into the hole. Sasha and Mikasa follow him. They complete the cuts, except for a few inches holding up the stomach lining like trampoline springs, so that they won't fall on Armin, just in case he's directly beneath them. All three cadets anchor themselves to the muscle inside the hole they've cut, hovering just above the membrane. Mikasa slices through the last anchors, the material falling into a large cavity. She searches for a moment.  
"I don't see Armin directly below us, we can jump down."   
She releases her lines, the other two following suit. Sasha spots Armin immediately.  
"Over there!" Sasha yelps, rushing to the spot. Armin lies in a pool of blood, covered in stomach mucus.   
"Oh god, oh god, no, is he dead, did Eren bite him in half or something?!" Sasha is almost hysterical. Jean pushes her out of the way.  
"He's not dead, he's still breathing, but I'll have to wake him up, so he can tell me where he's wounded, I can't tell for all the blood." Jean picks Armin up easily and uses his lines to pull him out of the carcass. Sasha follows, almost in tears.   
Mikasa leaves last, and as she emerges she locates Eren, and as soon as she's on the ground she checks to see if he's alright. He's half awake now, laying in the street, in the twilight.  
"Eren." She calls him softly, resting his head on her arms.   
"M-Mikasa?" He sounds dazed. She promptly picks him up and carries him over to where Armin is laying in a new puddle of blood. She hadn't liked leaving Eren where any odd Titan could pick him up. Armin is awake now, ghostly pale and shivering, tears welling in his eyes. It's obvious that he's in pain, his limbs trembling in shock.  
"Where were you hurt?" Jean is full of tenderness.  
"My- right- right here." He points to his waist, in answer to Jean's inquiry. "Under my gear." Jean detaches Armin's gear, and pulls it off him. Armin gives a choked scream. His clothes are matted with blood, and there are two deep cuts on either side of his body.   
"Did his-" Sasha gasps." Did his own gear do THAT?!"   
"Yes-" Armin gets out. "He- his grip- stronger-"  
"Shut up and don't try to talk." Jean barks at Armin. "Save your strength." Jean rips a wide strip of his shirt, and wraps it tightly around Armin's waist.   
"That should do for now, until we can get him to the medics."   
Eren sits up suddenly.   
"What happened, whats going on, where's- " Eren spots Armin laying next to him. "What the hell happened!?!"   
"YOU HAPPENED!!" Jean yells, shoving him roughly. Mikasa puts her hand on Jean's shoulder. He jumps as if she's burned him.   
"Jean. Give him some time to rest."   
"I'll do no such damn thing! Eren, you went Titan form and ATE ARMIN." Jean glares daggers at Eren.   
" I-I wouldn't do that." Eren looks terrified, his face pleading as he looks at each one of them in turn. "Would I?"  
"We don't have time for this." Says Sasha tearfully. "Armin needs medical attention."   
"Sasha, take Armin to the medic's, but don't tell them who injured him. THAT IS VERY. VERY. IMPORTANT." Mikasa's tone turns deadly. "Do not tell ANYONE what you've seen here. Got it?"   
"-Got it-" Sasha scoops up Armin. A sharp cry of pain escapes him. "Armin, this- this may hurt." Sasha informs him sadly. She speeds off, flying over rooftops toward Headquarters.   
Mikasa turns back to Eren.  
"You lost control. The- the Titan side of you took over... And you- well.."   
"You. Swallowed. ARMIN." Finishes Jean.   
"Swallowed? Then why- why was there so much blood?" Eren says.   
"Because when you picked him up-"  
"You squeezed Armin in your hand and his own Gear stabbed him." Jean interrupts.   
"I couldn't- I never- I'D NEVER DO THAT!!" Eren looked shell-shocked.  
"Titan Eren did it."   
"I AM NOT JUST TITAN EREN!!" Eren screamed, his face contorting in anger.  
"Enough." Mikasa tells them. "Jean, not one WORD about this to anyone."  
"I have more sense than you give me credit for, you think I'd just go blabbing about this!?"   
"I'd expect that from you." Eren picks himself up off the ground.  
"Eren, I don't think it would be the wisest thing to transform again anytime soon." Mikasa says softly.  
"I know. If I did that to you, or to Armin again, I don't - I don't know-what I'd do." The fear falls from his eyes as tears. "I'll take control of my Titan side before I transform ever again." Eren sends his lines in the direction Sasha went, wiping his eyes. "Lets get back to Headquarters." He takes off, rocketing over the city.


	2. Shitty Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a ball of shit :P but somebody wanted it so here it is.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Marco yells at Sasha.   
"Quiet down Marco, somebody will hear you." Jean tries to calm him.   
"I'd better be informed on what happened here." Marco folds his arms across his chest, demanding an answer.   
"I-I've told you everything I can." Sasha says tearfully.   
"But not everything you know. For God's sake, Sasha shows up with Armin half dead and covered in Titan saliva and then you, Mikasa and Eren magically appear to see him. Something happened that you aren't telling me." Marco concludes.

In the treatment center of the hospital, Armin lies on a comfortable bed, wrapped in white sheets. He isn't exactly asleep, but halfway there. Eren and Mikasa stand by his bedside, an old nurse busily making her way down the isle between the beds.   
"Oh, his were some nasty ones." She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. "But he'll heal up alright, with a bit o' rest." She shakes her head sympathetically and continues with her task.   
"Armin- I- I'm so sorry. Mikasa told me what happened. I swear, I'll never let it happen again." Eren kneels next to the patient's bed, speaking through clenched teeth.  
"I don't blame you." Armin's voice is quiet and calm. Eren jerks to look at his face, to search for any hint of deception.   
"Armin, it was my fault-"   
"No, it wasn't. That wasn't you. You aren't in control in that form. How that points to you, I can't see, but don't blame yourself for something that is not logically your fault."   
"But Armin, if I could control myself better in that form-" Armin grips Eren's hand.   
"Seriously. Stop it. It's annoying." Armin lays his head back on his pillow and sighs. "The injury is a temporary inconvenience. Although we should try to make our gear slightly more.... dull." Eren laughs, choking down tears.

Jean sighs. Marco is smart, which presents a problem. Jean orders Sasha to go find Mikasa, and Sasha obeys without hesitation.   
"Marco... " Jean recounts the tale, leaving out crucial details like it being Titan Eren who ate Armin, and all that.   
"I still get the feeling that I haven't heard all of it." The door slams open, revealing Mikasa storming into the room. She stalks over to Jean.  
"What exactly have you told him?" She asks through gritted teeth.   
"I-uh-well, I-" Jean flushes, lost for words, with Mikasa so close to his face. He pulls himself together. " I've told him everything except... you know..." Mikasa visibly relaxes.   
"Except WHAT." They both jump, having forgotten that Marco is there. Sasha plods into the room, supporting Eren.   
"Mikasa, I don't know what's wrong with him, he just - collapsed - for no reason!" Mikasa is across the room in a heartbeat, checking his pulse, looking at his eyes. He is in a sort of trance, as he was after the first time he assumed his Titan form.   
"Let's get him out of here, this may be a bad sign." Jean picks Eren up.   
"I'm staying with Armin." Sasha declares. "He needs someone to be here." Mikasa says nothing, but leads Jean out the door, and Marco follows.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short little one-shot with more chapters WRITTEN but not posted cuz they are shitty :P comment if you want me to post the shitty chapters two an three xD


End file.
